Hi Twoheartsonelove
and you are most welcome. I was offline for awhile but have recently come back to check in on folks and see that many JA folks have seen positive movement (YAY!) but Kingston has always been (as you say so kindly) "disorganized" so I see there are still some in the queue waiting that should be seeing progress soon. I recall from last year that hardly anyone in Kingston received AORs even though the CIC service standard states that they should be sent within 90 days of the file being received at the overseas offices.
It was a bit the same in POS; however, there are many more staff at the POS office and on our thread most of us would send CSE's if we did not get AORs and then POS would generally reply so we considered those "unofficial" AORs. With the fact that some Kingston files have been sent to POS I believe that is a good sign for everyone waiting, for several reasons. I used to work for the Federal gov't - not in immigration but there are many commonalities as to how they work across the board. First of all when they make a move like this it usually means they have finally decided to "clean house" so to speak. Kingston's performance has consistently ranked in the bottom 3-5 of all of the VOs abroad. The change in immigration ministers last year means he wants to make his mark and since he took over this is about the time we would see actions happening based on his initial evaluation of how things were working - or not working in this case.
Also the busiest time in gov't is always the last 2 quarters of their fiscal year Oct. - Dec. and Jan. - March as this is when they all start hustling to make their numbers and hit their targets for the year. I have a feeling that Kingston is getting a long overdue overhaul and it will be very positive for those who have been waiting a long time. If you look at the spreadsheets from most threads that keep them, you can see this trend.
So stay encouraged everyone.
Now onto hubby's adjustment. It is an adjustment for everyone involved, the wives, the husbands, both families and like most marriages and relationships it has ups and downs. Some days are diamonds and some days are stones ;D. I have a lot of this info. in my posting history for anyone curious enough to go back and read through my previous "musings". In our case I do not think hubby or I were as prepared as maybe we could have been/should have been for the shift from long distance love for 6.5 years to living together
. He had never been out of the Caribbean and I do believe this adds another level of adjustment for both parties. If your spouse has previously been to North America or travelled outside of the Caribbean, I think that prepares them more for the cultural adaptation. One funny story I can relay is how shocked my husband always is that dogs are beloved pets here. He himself is a dog lover and had many in Trinidad but NEVER would they come in the house, be spoiled with treats, get overweight, wear doggie clothes....lol.....and when I told him about pet insurance he almost fell over!! So one day my neighbor was out walking her little female shih tzu dog (wearing a pink coat and hair bow - the dog not the neighbor) and I introduced him to the neighbor lady and the dog. He looked at the dog and he looked at me and sighed wistfully......"if I ever get another life I want to come back as a Canadian dog"!!!
I would suggest both spouses practice a lot of patience, prayer, understanding and forgiveness in the first year and try not to take things personally......or get into a "country-off". Why our country is better than theirs or vice versa!! Does that tell you anything? Lol......to finally answer your question after all of this, overall he is doing great, working, driving all over, he cannot get over how big Canada is or our short growing season. He has also started buying his own winter clothes in preparation for his second winter. He now believes he is an expert on snow, ice and all other cold things he lived through for the first time last year.
How are you and your beloved making out with the challenges of this ordeal? Have you heard directly from POS yet? Blessings my dear.
